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The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity

Submitted by 100lives on Tue, 02/17/2015 - 23:15

The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity is a new global award that will be given annually to people who put themselves at risk to enable others to survive and thrive. Recipients will be recognized for the exceptional impact their actions have made to preserving human life or advancing humanitarian causes, despite the challenges that they have overcome.

A grant of U.S. $1 million will be given to the organization that the recipient identifies as the inspiration for his or her actions. In this way, the Aurora Prize will make a tangible difference to the causes that motivate people to risk their health, liberty, reputation, or livelihood by voluntarily carrying out acts that enable others to survive.

The Aurora Prize has been developed as part of 100 LIVES, an international humanitarian project rooted in the events of the Armenian Genocide. This year marks the centenary of the Genocide where an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed. In spite of this tragedy, approximately 500,000 survived and found shelter abroad, many with the help of strangers. 100 LIVES is a global effort to pay tribute to and thank the individuals and institutions whose actions saved lives a century ago.

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English

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<p>Awarded annually to people who put themselves at risk to make an outstanding contribution to humanitarian causes.</p>

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OUR PURPOSE

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Our timeline

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Below is an outline of the process and a reminder of the key dates you need to be aware of

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THE SELECTION COMMITTEE

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Nominations

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We want to shine a light on people who faced adversity, put themselves on the line and still made a difference through a single act of valor or a long-term campaign.

Compassionate. Courageous. Determined. Risking everything for what they believe in, the winner of the Aurora Prize will be exceptional in every way.

And we’d like you to help us find them…

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How our nomination process works

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We invite you to nominate any person or group that you believe has gone above and beyond in helping others. It can be someone you know personally or just someone you admire. If eligible, your nominee will be contacted by the 100 LIVES team.

These nominations will then be assessed by a dedicated Secretariat comprised of experts in the field and overseen by independent auditors. A shortlist will then be drawn up for consideration by the Selection Committee. The inaugural Aurora Prize will be presented in April 2016 at a ceremony in Yerevan, Armenia

How it works:

July2015

Nomination period opens

October 2015

Nomination period closes

April 24, 2016

Prize winner announced

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The selection committee:

George Clooney

Co-Chair

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Co-founder, Not On Our Watch;
Humanitarian, performer and film maker

Elie Wiesel 1928 – 2016

First Co-Chair

Elie Wiesel 1928 – 2016 image

President of the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity;
Nobel Laureate

Vartan Gregorian

Member

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Co-founder, Aurora Humanitarian Initiative;
President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York

Leymah Gbowee

Member

Leymah Gbowee image

Nobel Laureate, Liberian peace activist and women’s rights advocate

Lord Ara Darzi

Member

Lord Ara Darzi image

Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London

Hina Jilani

Member

Hina Jilani image

Former United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders

Gareth Evans

Member

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President Emeritus of the International Crisis Group; Former Australian Foreign Minister

Mary Robinson

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Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Former President of Ireland

Oscar Arias

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Two-time President of Costa Rica; Nobel Laureate

Shirin Ebadi

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Shirin Ebadi image

Human Rights Lawyer and Iran's first female judge; Nobel Laureate

Ernesto Zedillo

Member

Ernesto Zedillo image

Director, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization; Former President of Mexico

Bernard Kouchner

Member

Bernard Kouchner image

Co-founder, Médecins Sans Frontières; Former French Foreign Minister

Samantha Power

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Samantha Power image

Former US Ambassador to the United Nations

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THE INSPIRATION

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The name Aurora was chosen to honor the memory of Aurora Mardiganian who, as a child, was forced to witness the atrocities of the Armenian Genocide, including losing her father and brothers. Against the odds she survived and went on to devote her life to providing humanitarian relief and raising awareness of the 1915 atrocities. The Prize was inspired by Aurora, and the thousands of untold stories of courage and survival during these events 100 years ago.

Aurora was also the Roman Goddess of Dawn and the Prize is a means of both showing gratitude for acts of humanity but also giving substantive help to those creating brighter tomorrows for people around the world.